Not being an expert on 19th Century sacred music from
Menorca I console myself with the fact that probably I am not
alone in that particular failing. This disc helps rectify this
gap in my knowledge and is a record of a live concert given in
the Church of Santa Maria de Maó
on Menorca in 2008. Greater documentary significance is added
in that this is the church and indeed organ on which most of the
composers represented worked and played.

Sad to report, there are no lost masterpieces here. Jaume Carbonell I Guberna
in his succinct but informative liner-notes emphasises the
influence of Italian operatic writing and this is undoubtedly
true. But even that goes little beyond the occasional Rossiniesque
flourish or Bellini-ism. I had to do a double-take over the
range of the composer’s dates. The earliest was born in 1785
and the latest died in 1960 but there is no possible way one
could have surmised this from the sound of the music which
all feels rooted around the early romantic period. All is
pleasant in rather nondescript manner. One feels that rules
of harmony and melody are being observed in a way to please
the most reactionary of composition professors as well as
a Church trying to distance itself from the secular excesses
of a Verdian style requiem. The main problem is that there
is not a single moment in any of these compositions where
one’s ears prick up with a memorable melodic phrase or apt
word setting. Without wishing to sound at all dismissive
it is rather parochial.

Clearly the audience enjoyed themselves. They respond very warmly to the
performances here which are given with great gusto by baritone
Lluís Sintes and organist Tomé Olives. Olives is following
in the footsteps of the composers here by being the current
incumbent organist of Santa Maria. Achieving any kind of
lifelike balance between a solo voice and a large organ is
a thankless task but the engineers do pretty well. Certainly
Olives does not opt for registrations that gently enfold the
voice – he has a marked preference for dramatic statements
(try the very opening of the disc – no gently pleading Ave
Maria this) but Sintes’ powerfully – albeit not always
beautifully – projected baritone is able to ride the wave
of sound.

The liner-notes draw attention to the organ; “…[when it was built it was]
an exceptional milestone in terms of dimension and quality……[and]
is considered to be one of the finest in Europe and, indeed,
the world”. Quite a bold statement. This has to be one of
the most bizarre organs I have ever heard. Olives seems to
struggle with the action. Certainly the relative lack of responsiveness
inhibits his ability to play some of the passage work as he
might wish. But it is the actual sounds it makes which stopped
me in my tracks. Listen to the passage 1:26 into track 2
– Ingemisco – it really does sound like the left hand
and right hands are playing in different keys. But that is
nothing compared to the moment in track 3 Sonata when
the carillon of bells appear. The descent to the fairground
is complete. In the best tradition of such carillons they
seem to have been tuned with no relation to the notes they
nominally accompany. I can only assume that the registration
of these pieces calls for the bells here and that the composers
wrote specifically for that stop on this particular organ.
If that is the case then the historical precedent is clear
– it is just a shame it does not make for a more pleasurable
listening experience. The final track finished me off in
every sense. Stiges’ Gradual seems to have been written
for some kind of trompette militaire stop. Perhaps
age has withered this particular part of the organ but now
for all the world it sounds like a massed phalanx of outsized
kazoos. I suspect the aim was for something along the lines
of Gigout’s Grand Choeur Dialogue – sadly this is not
achieved. Additionally, adjacent notes from this stop spring
from opposite sides of the stereo picture adding another degree
of manic absurdity to proceedings. Yet, precisely because
of the location and relevance of this instrument to the music
being played it is hard to utterly dismiss it. I suspect
a major restoration is required.

So, a disc of modest music, running to a miserly forty seven minutes, enthusiastically
performed in idiomatic surroundings on the strangest church
organ you might ever hear – make your own mind up, I really
do not know!

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